World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson is a joint event that took place across the globe just yesterday, June 14th, at 11am ET (3pm GMT). Lessons were set to run concurrently in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record. The aim of this event is to build up awareness about the vital importance of teaching children to swim in an attempt to help prevent drowning from occurring. In fact, drowning is the second leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children aged between one to fourteen.

Just last year alone, in 2011, the event saw the number of participating swimmers increasing by 500 per cent. There were more than 20,000 adults and children from fourteen different countries and five continents. A total of 45 states from the United States of America were involved. Among these 45 states, Florida and Texas had the best biggest participation of all. The great response for the event last year helped to set a new Guinness World Record.

This year, in Jacksonville, Florida alone, a total of seven JaxParks swimming pools took part in the global event. The best thing about the event is that it is absolutely free and it is open to the public! Yes, not a single cent would be required. For the full story, read it from here.

Why are these participating schools willing to provide free swimming lessons to the public? Well, who wants to see an innocent life taken away by drowning right? If they are able to lend a helping hand, even if it is merely for just one lesson, it is still worth their time and effort. Some of these children aren’t as fortunate as others and they might never ever receive swimming lessons for the rest of their lives. This puts them in an extremely bad situation if they are left in the water to fend for themselves. There are also others who might just need that extra push to get them accustomed to the water, so that they will be willing to accept and take up swimming classes.

In Singapore, although we might not be participating in this event (mainly due to the time zone difference), our government still emphasise the need for children to take up swimming. They have made it compulsory for those students in Primary School to undergo swimming classes if they have yet to. Although it may not be free of charge, swimming lessons in Singapore are still considered affordable. Happy Fish Swim School is one of the schools that offers affordable swimming lessons. For more information on our rates, check us out at http://www.swimminglessons.com.sg/ !